Alexandre Fontes da Fonseca

Nanosprings have been object of intense investigations in recent years. They can be classified as normal or binormal depending on the geometry of their cross-section. Normal amorphous nanosprings have not been observed experimentally up to now, and only recently the synthesis of a crystalline ZnO normal nanohelix has been reported. We discuss the shape of the catalyst in terms of the cross-sectional shape of the nanospring, and show that, within the vapor-liquid-solid model, the growth of amorphous normal nanospring is not energetically favoured.

Helical amorphous nanosprings have attracted particular interest due to their special mechanical properties. In this work we present a simple model, within the framework of the Kirchhoff rod model, for investigating the structural properties of nanosprings having asymmetric cross section. We have derived expressions that can be used to obtain the Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the nanospring material composite. We also address the importance of the presence of a catalyst in the growth process of amorphous nanosprings in terms of the stability of helical rods.

We present a model to study Young's modulus and Poisson's ratio of the composite material of amorphous nanowires. It is an extension of the model derived by two of us [Da Fonseca and Galvao, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 175502 (2004)] to study the elastic properties of amorphous nanosprings. The model is based on twisting and tensioning a straight nanowire and we propose an experimental setup to obtain the elastic parameters of the nanowire. We used the Kirchhoff rod model to obtain the expressions for the elastic constants of the nanowire.

We present a model to study Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio of the composite material of amorphous nanowires. It is an extension of the model derived by two of us [da Fonseca and Galvão, Phys. Rev. Lett. 92, 175502 (2004)] to study the elastic properties of amorphous nanosprings. The model is based on twisting and tensioning a straight nanowire and we propose an experimental setup to obtain the elastic parameters of the nanowire. We used the Kirchhoff rod model to obtain the expressions for the elastic constants of the nanowire.

Helical structures can be classified in accordance with the orientation of its cross-section with respect to the normal or binormal vectors. We investigate the geometric features of several nanosprings verifying the non-existence of normal nanohelices. In this work, using the VLS growth model, we explain not only the absence of normal nanosprings but also the growing process of binormal nanosprings. The dynamical stability of crystalline ZnO binormal nanohelices is also addressed.

Nanostructures (nanotubes, nanowires, etc.) have been the object of intense theoretical and experimental investigations in recent years. Among these structures, helical nanosprings or nanocoils have attracted particular interest due to their special mechanical properties. In this work, we investigated structural properties of nanosprings in the Kirchhoff rod model. We derived expressions that can be used experimentally to obtain nanospring Young’s modulus and Poisson’s ratio values. Our results also might explain why the presence of catalytic particles is so important in nanostructure growth.

The tridimensional configuration and the twist density of helical rods with varying cross section radius are studied within the framework of the Kirchhoff rod model. It is shown that the twist density increases when the cross section radius decreases. Some tridimensional configurations of helix-like rods are displayed showing the effects of the nonhomogeneity considered here. Since the helix-like solutions of the nonhomogeneous rods do not present constant curvature and torsion a set of differential equations for these quantities is presented. We discuss the results and possible consequences.